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Strife/Issue 03
Issue 03 is the third issue of Volume 01 of Strife, It was written by CamTheWoot and was published on June 21st, 2014. ---- Issue 03 Previous: Issue 02 Next: Issue 04 ---- Patrick ---- "Go on in, man." Rook said, standing by the door to Rowena's office. Patrick had just about traversed the spiraling staircase before him. He gasped for air, with his hands resting on his knees. "How do you climb these?" "This is the third time today, I got used to it." Rook replied, with a grin on his face. "Jesus Patrick, you need to exercise a bit more." "Yeah," Patrick gasped, standing up straight. "Yeah I do." Upon standing up Patrick begun to ponder to himself: Am I really '''that' unfit?'' "Anyway, you best not keep Rowena waiting," Rook said opening the door for him. "I'll stay out here." "Thanks," he replied walking in as Rook closed the door behind him. Suddenly Patrick was back in a familiar place, Rowena's office, he started at the iron chandelier hanging above him. Although it was merely decoration, the candles hadn't been lit for years. "Rowena?" "Hello Patrick," she said, once again without lifting her head from her writing. "No need to sit down, this is going to be brief." "Of course, what's wrong?" "Nothing is wrong, I'm only informing you that I spoke with Vincent." "Oh?" Patrick raised one eyebrow. "What did he have to say." "I will fully inform you of the outcome of our conversation once he has fulfilled his side of our bargain and he is back from his run." "So he agreed? That's wonderful news! So it that why I was brought here or-" "You were brought here because he had some conditions," Rowena looked up at him and sighed. "Patrick, you need to stop trying to get Vincent to take his medication." "What?!" He shouted, quickly sitting down on the same rickety chair Vincent sat in, only minutes before. "Rowena, you don't understand. Vincent needs that medication, without it he'll-" "Apparently he doesn't," she interrupted. "He made a very good case for himself, I'm allowing him to continue unmediated, if he wishes." "With all due respect, that PHD on my wall isn't a decoration! You need to listen to me, Vincent is ill, he's deranged! You can't trust what he says in regard to his own health!" "The subject is closed Patrick, this is in order." "No, no. You don't understand, he's not fine! He's disturbed - he thinks his medication is the reason Alice died! He's unstable, just... This could kill him." "He's been fine for the past two years, why would he drop dead now?" "It wont kill him in the direct sense but he is dangerous without it, we don't know what he's capable of! If you let him stay how he is, he'll become a danger to himself and everyone around him." He slumped back in his chair red in the face, tears ran down his cheek. He swiftly looked away, attempting to hide his face from Rowena. "We never even had Mum, we lost Dad." Slowly he raised his head towards her, until he was looking her in the eyes. "We lost Harry and Anabel... We lost Alice and now Lawrence is gone! I'm sorry Rowena but we can't lose Vincent too, I can't lose him." Rowena sighed as she watched her brother break down in front of her. "Vincent's a big boy now Patrick, he can look after himself. If I get the impression that he's not safe, or anyone else isn't, I will pull the chain on this whole deal. I'll have Nancy watching him at all times." "I suppose this is non-negotiational?" "You know very well it is." "Alright," he groaned getting of the chair, he walked towards the door, putting his hand on the handle. "I hope you know what you're doing." "I do," she replied, looking back at her papers. "You always do." He turned to handle and left, once again Rook was patiently waiting outside. "Jesus Pat, you look like hell. What an earth happened in there?" Said Rook putting his hand on Patrick's shoulder "Nothing," he sniffed. "Just - watch out for Vincent would you?" "I do already." "Thanks," he rolled his arm across his faced wiping the tears away from his eyes. "So where are you going now then?" "I've got to go and meet the man in question! We're going on a run to look for Lawrence a little later, under Rowena's orders of course. Sorry about Lawrence by the way, I'm sure he's fine." "Yeah, thanks. You go on ahead, I'm going to stay up here awhile. I need to think for a minute." "Yeah of course, I'll see you around." Rook said walking down there stairs. Patrick stared out the window, opposite to Rowena's door. He had no intentions of disobeying Rowena's strict orders, nor did he have any intention of putting his brother in danger. He knew he had to do something but it was only then as he saw Barnes Fooks - the tinkerer of the group and caretaker of weapons, emerge from the supply tower, that he realized what he needed to do. ---- Vincent ---- And then there's Vincent, standing at the door of the one person in the Tower of London he had true care for. His nurse, a woman by the name of Nancy Brodmir, he respected her more than any other person there. He wouldn't be afraid to admit that he feared her to a certain degree. "Here goes nothing," he silently tittered, knocking on her door. She's going to either hug me or kill me - or both. I suppose anything's possible. His ears pricked up, upon hearing a loud crash come from the other side of the door. "That'll be her getting up." "Ugh... for Gods sake - I'm coming!" A women's voice sounded from the other side. "Take your time," he said leaning on the wall next to the door. Eventually the door opened, a short woman stood at the other side, dressed in pink striped pajamas. She couldn't have possibly been taller than five foot, Nancy may have been one of the shortest women Vincent had ever seen. She had long hair, strung back in a ponytail with a pink band, her hair itself was a strange color, almost changing in the light. Vincent could never tell whether it was black or an extremely dark purple, although he knew the idea of purple hair was mad, as he hadn't even seen a can of hair dye for well over a year. She looked up at him, seemingly unimpressed with her disturbance. "What do you want?" She moaned. "Good to see you too Nancy," Vincent grinned. "Go on, get dressed - we're going on a run." Nancy giggled in a sarcastic, unimpressed manor. "No, you are. I'm going back to bed." "Oh please sweetheart," Vincent jived "We're going out to look for my dear old brother, won't you help me?" "Which one's gone missing?" "Lawrence." Nancy rolled her eyes. Like two big sapphires they were, bluer than the sea. "I don't even like Lawrence," she sighed with her arms crossed. "You don't even like Lawrence. Sorry but no, I've got an urgent appointment with a mattress." "Curses, I thought you would say something along those lines, I didn't want to resort to bribery." He turned around and picked the books up, they had been sitting next to her door, out of her sight. "You drive a hard bargain," he said passing them at her. Nancy's face lit up, like he'd never seen. The first bout of genuine joy he'd seen from her in a while, a flash of colour came to that pale face of hers. She quickly snatched them from him, holding them behind her back. "I suppose Lawrence does need our help doesn't he?" "In more ways than one, I'm sure. So go on, get dressed, I've got to go and pick up the Mitchell's as well so I'll meet you outside in a few minutes." "Fine," she groused, in an overly whiny tone. "Give me a few minutes." "Alright we'll be by the tower entrance, don't make us wait." Vincent chuckled as he walked away. "God's sake," she mumbled to herself, just loud enough for Vincent to hear. "Rowena lets you out once in a millennium and you use that time to get me out of bed." "Better than trying to get you in bed" He replied, finally leaving the tower all together. Hmm, I think that sounded better in my mind. Vincent thought to himself, as he approached yet another tower, the very same tower Patrick had been spying earlier. Witha nod to the guards, he traversed yet another spiraling staircase, all to familiar to the one he had earlier. He couldn't help but wonder how he was let into the supply tower without a permit, Rowena's orders got around quickly, but she wasn't telepathic. He shrugged it off before eventually arriving at another wooden door, he could hear roars of laughter from the other side. "Seems like the Mitchell's are hard at work." Upon opening the door, he walked into a circular stockroom, filled to the brim with different supplies, all neatly organized and cataloged. Two men sat at the opposite sites of the room, one high up on a crate, the other only next to the door sitting on a barrel. The two men looked nearly identical, both of them with long shaggy black hair and large blue eyes. If it weren't for their clothes it would be near impossible to tell them apart. "Ahoy-oy, Vincent!" Said the one sitting next to the door as he stood up with a cigar in his mouth. Showing himself to be considerably shorter than the professor. "So which one are you then?" "I'm Wayne." The man answered, his eyes seemed to shift as he said it. Vincent chuckled as he looked up at the other sitting on the crate. "Yeah right," he mumbled. "That would make you Wayne then?" "Fuck's sake Duncan," the other man said as he jumped down. "You need to try reverse psychology mate, Vince's too smart for this shit." "Aw piss off Wayne," said Duncan, who had previously tried to pass himself off as his twin. "So what are you doing here then?" "We're going on a run and you lunkheads are coming with me." "Yeah sure," said Wayne. "And what if we refuse?" "Well, I already used all my bribing material on Nancy. I suppose I could threaten you and your friends?" "Aw, that's not very nice," Wayne sneered. "I'm not a very nice man, I'm glad I could clear that up for you." "Oh, well. I suppose we have no choice then, do we?" Wayne laughed "Go on Duncan, get your stuff. I'm sure we could bare to stretch our legs." "Ugh bollocks," Duncan whined, putting out his cigar as he got up. He walked across the room and disappeared into a closet behind a pile of five gallon water bottles. "So, I'm under the assumption that we're going out lookin' for Lawrence?" Said Wayne as he to butted out his cigar against the wall. "Yeah, Nancy and Rook are already on board, just need you two lads and a good chat with Barnes and we're all set." "Well how could we turn you down then?" Wayne grinned as he spoke. Slipping his hands into the pockets oh his muddy brown hoodie. "Even if Lawrence is an annoying douche." Duncan soon emerged from the closet carrying two rucksacks and a hunting rifle. "Here ya' go," he said passing the rifles and one of the bags to his brother, who immediately slung it around his shoulder. "Nice to see you finally coming out of the closet," Wayne taunted, resting the rifle against his leg. "So how did you get that rifle past Fooks?" Vincent asked. He wasn't going to hide it, he was impressed. "I thought he had all weapons cataloged?" "Are you really asking me, how I got the jump on a senile old man who can't see two feet in front of him?" Wayne had an oddly sincere look on him. Frankly Vincent couldn't tell if he was hurt or if he was putting it on. "Boss, I'm insulted." "Okay stupid question, let's go." Vincent replied, opening the door and allowing the twins to exit first. "You know, I'm kinda enjoying Rowena's weird supply run obsession," said Duncan walking down the stairs. "Gives us an opportunity to pick up fags." "Don't forget we're going out to look for my older brother, not so you can look for cigarettes." "Yeah, yeah I know - hard-arse." Duncan scorned, opening the door for the other two. "I didn't expect to be kept waiting," said Nancy, who was leaning against the wall next to the door. Thankfully in a change of clothes, now wearing a black jacket over a white t-shirt, with a red scarf around her neck. She had a ring of keys hanging from the belt of her jeans, cut off by small black military boots. "Nice to see you up in order," said Vincent. "Wayne, Duncan; go find Rook - would you? Nancy and I need to go and bargain with Barnes." "Sure thing boss!" Wayne replied. "Come on faggot, let's go find Rooky." "Don't call me a faggot, arsebag!" Exclaimed Duncan, as he followed his brother, walking away from Vincent. "You'll need to do the talking with Barnes for me y'know?" Vincent spoke as the two of them begun walking. "Oh of course, I thought I would have to." "Why the crazy old bastard has taken such a liking to you I'll never know." "I happen to be a beautiful and charming young lady, is it really that surprising that people like me?" "Of course not, I didn't mean it like that anyway. I was simply commenting on Barnes's infatuation with you being somewhat... unhealthy." "I suppose I have to agree there, it's rather odd. I say bugger it, if someone wants to show me affection let 'em." She slowly reared her line of view round, until she was looking Vincent in the eye. "Someone has to." Vincent let out a deep miserable exhale, clearly over exaggerated. "Really now?" "Eh, I'm just saying." "Please don't just say," Vincent scoffed "I've got enough on my mind today." "Oh, well. Sorry about that." "All is forgiven," said Vincent as the two of them approached the door to a small stone building, no bigger than a shed. Vincent placed his hand on the handle and twisted it. "M'lady," he laughed as he opened it. "And who says chivalry is dead?" "Some dizzy bitch who's probably doing a hell of allot worse than chivalry." "True," Nancy replied walking in. The room was small and dark, it looked like an abandoned laboratory, with different kinds of electrical equipment scattered all over the place. The tables in the center of the room were lined with tools and broken machines. A large safe stood at the back of the room, with multiple locks on it. "Nancy," Vincent whispered, getting her attention. "Would you mind handling this dear?" "Of course," she replied "BARNES! Are you in here?!" Vincent became distracted from Nancy calling Barnes, instead turning his attention to a newspaper on the table. he picked it up and turned the paper round to the front page. He scanned it, reading details of a series of murders in 2003 and a killer dubbed "Greensleeves", due to an apparent obsession with the song. This killer apparently left verses of the verses of the song next to every body. "I remember this," he thought to himself. "Rowena and Lawrence never shut up about this guy." The article detailed two women by the names of "Cecile Baker" and "Rachael Paups", naming them as the killers first and last victims respectively. He looked over at Nancy, in a different light than before, several different memories coming back to him, in a haze of his fragmented past. He seemed to remember her father, a gruff old man, breaking down in tears. "What happened?" "Ugh, Nancy? Is that you?" An old mans voice echoed through the small room with a heavy German accent. As a hand rose from underneath the table. "Yes Barnes, it's me." Eventually after a good minute of back pain and creaking hips an aged old man emerged from behind a table. A stood around the same height as Vincent, with a strange grey skin tone and brown eyes. He had a full head of wavy white hair and a long white beard, that covered his tattered black, striped suit. "Ah Nancy! Guten Morgen." "Wie geht es Ihnen?" She replied. "Es geht mir sehr gut, danke." He laughed, taking off his glasses and rubbing them against his shirt, likely making them dirtier. "Your German is improving, fräulein. You're getting the pronunciation spot on." Vincent raised one eyebrow with a confused grin on his face. "Well this has been heartwarming but we're not here for a German lesson. Barnes we-" "Oh it's you. Sorry Vincent, I'm a busy man and I don't waste my time on degenerates." Vincent twitched in his left eye, an angry twitch all to familiar to himself and anyone who knew him. His grin remained but it's intent was considerable more sardonic than before. "Fräulein? Would you kindly?" "Barnes, we're here to pick up our weapons, Rowena's ordered us to go and look for Lawrence." "Oh, I- I heard about his disappearance... Horrible business. Lawrence is a good lad, I couldn't bare the thought of something happening to him." "Well Fooksy," Vincent rasped, now leaning against the wall. "The chance of something happening to him increases by a crap-ton, for every second we spend talking to you and not out looking for him. So I would heavily appreciate it if you gave us what we came for and sent us on our merry way." "NO VINCENT!" Barnes screamed, pointing at him. "Nancy can take what she likes but I'm not giving anything to a crook like you!" "For God's sake, I could be out looking for my halfwit brother right now but instead in sitting here having a chat with a senile old crackpot. Nancy, please get what we need so we can go." "Yeah sure," she said walking past Barnes to the safe. "Barnes, could you?" "Of course dear," he replied, pulling out a key and unlocking the safe. "Take what you like." "Vincent, you want your sword?" "Is the sky blue?" She gave out a light chuckle, pulling out a collecting of different guns and daggers. Last but not least, she removed a sheathed short sword from the back. On the way out she passed it to Vincent. "Bye, bye Fräulein!" Vincent exclaimed walking out the door behind Nancy. "THAT'S A TERM FOR WOMEN!" Barnes shouted back at him. "I know Fooksy, I know." ---- "You didn't need to insult him," said Nancy as the two of them to walked towards the front gate. They could see Rook, Duncan and Wayne standing by the exit. "He doesn't have to be a cantankerous, senile old prick, but that doesn't stop hims from being one." "Vincent!" a familiar voice called out to the two of them as they approached. The two of them turned around to see Patrick running towards them. "Vincent, I need to talk to you." "Alright Pat, I'm all ears." "I took a look at Lawrence's schedule for his supply runs today. He was looking around Gresham Street." "That's nice Patrick, I don't really have time for a house call on my old flat though." "That's exactly the thing though. Lawrence still had the keys to your flat on his chain! If he were to have ran into a horde of shadows or something like that, he may have had to use it." "Using my old flat as a base camp eh? That sounds like him." "So," Patrick held out his hand, a set of keys dangled from his fingers. "It's only natural you should check it out." "Thanks Pat," he said, taking the keys off him. "Just - stay safe out there would you? That goes for you too Nancy. Please bring Lawrence back." "We'll try our best," Nancy replied, "but we can't promise that." "I know," Patrick replied "but it makes me feel better either way." "I plan to do all I can," said Vincent walking away from him, Nancy following behind him. "Goodbye," Patrick murmured. as he was left behind. "That was odd," said Nancy. "Very odd," Vincent replied. "I want to know where he got these keys." "Oi-oi boss!" Called Wayne as the two finally approached the rest of them. "Alright lads? You all ready to go?" "Yes I'd say so." Rook replied "Yep, we're all set boss." Wayne sneered "Alright, good," said Vincent, attaching the sheathed short sword to his belt. "Now, as you know my older brother has gone and got himself lost. In fact, he seems to see the end of the bloody world as ample time to go for his dream of world hide and seek champion! We're here to snatch that dream from him and pull his candy-arse back home. The alternative being, my big sister getting on her menstrual cycle and running our lardy carpets over! So, err - yeah... let's not let that happen." "Nice speech boss," Duncan taunted. "Yeah I know, let's just freaking go." To be continued... ---- Characters ---- Vincent Myers Maurice Rook Patrick Myers Rowena Myers Nancy Brodmir Barnes Fooks Wayne Mitchell Duncan Mitchell Alice Myers (Mentioned) Lawrence Myers (Mentioned) Arthur Myers (Mentioned) Marianne Myers (Mentioned) Anabel Myers (Mentioned) Harry Martin (Mentioned) Greensleeves (Mentioned) Rachael Paups (Mentioned) Cecile Baker (Mentioned) ---- Deaths Arthur Myers (Confirmed Fate) Anabel Myers (Confirmed Fate) Rachael Paups (Confirmed Fate) Cecile Baker (Confirmed Fate) ---- Trivia First appearance of Barnes Fooks. First appearance of Nancy Brodmir. First appearance of Wayne Mitchell. First appearance of Duncan Mitchell. First mention of Arthur Myers. First mention of Marianne Myers. First mention of Anabel Myers. First mention of Greensleeves. First mention of Rachael Paups. First mention of Cecile Baker. This issue is a re-write of Strife/Issue 03 (Original). Category:Issues Category:Strife Issues Category:Strife Category:Pestilence Category:CamTheWoot